Asia’s richest woman Yang Haiyan saw over half of her net worth disappear over the past year in the escalating real estate crisis in China. Yang’s fortune is down 52% from $23.7 billion a year ago to $11.3 billion now, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index. She is a majority shareholder in China’s biggest real estate developer Country Garden.

In 2005, Yang inherited the majority stake in Country Garden Holdings from her father Yang Guoqiang, who founded the company in Foshan, Guangdong province, in 1992. Two years later her company was listed in Hong Kong, a development that propelled Yang to the status of Asia’s wealthiest woman, a title she now barely clings to, with chemicals fibre tycoon Fan Hongwei closely in tow with a net worth of $11.2 billion.

Country Garden’s stock has lost half its value this year amid a rout in the country’s real estate sector. Falling home prices, weakening buyer demand and a debt default crisis have engulfed some of the biggest players such as Evergrande and Sunac.

Chinese authorities initiated a crackdown on heavily leveraged companies in a bid to control excessive debt in the real estate sector, driving companies such as Evergrande and Sunac to the edge of bankruptcy.

Country Garden, which remained relatively untouched by the larger crisis in the industry, spooked investors when it announced it will issue new shares to raise $343 million, partly to pay off debt.

Sale proceeds would be used for “refinancing existing offshore indebtedness, general working capital and future development purposes”, the company said. Share price tanked another 15% on Wednesday after the announcement.

According to S&P Global Ratings, China’s property sales could drop by a third this year.